


The Ranger of Nihon-Ja

by Atlas2048



Category: Rangers Apprentice
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29337234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atlas2048/pseuds/Atlas2048
Summary: Rumors of a Ranger in Nihon-Ja have emerged. Ranger Commandant Gilan sends two of his most trusted Rangers, Halt O'Carrick and Will Treaty, along with the premier knight of the country, Sir Horace Altman, and his new apprentice, Merek Bennet. Their mission is to find out what is going on, and if there really is a Ranger in Nihon-Ja.This story is based on the concept of a "Rogue Ranger", or a Ranger who left the Corps for good.This story takes place after Duel at Araluen mainly because I haven't read the Missing Prince yet.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rated Teen and up for violence, not bad gore.

He heard the screams first. Satoru thought he was just dreaming. He heard more screams. Satoru knew he dreaming. Or was he? Satoru heard the clanging of metal on metal. He felt a hot glow on his face then more screams.

Satoru finally opened his eyes.

His father was standing over him. 

"Satoru, come quickly!" he said, "The village is burning!"

Satoru leaped out of his bed and ran down the stairs with his father, his mother coming close behind.

And stops.

Three armed men are standing in their doorway. They quickly see Satoru and his family and come running at them.

Satoru and his parents try to run back, but the men drag them back. Satoru's father tries to fight back. He gets a black eye for that.

In an instance, Satoru, his father, and his mother are all tied and gagged up on the floor.

The three men loot the entire house, taking everything of value, including the family's prized possession, Satoru's great-grandfather's katana. 

A fourth man bursts into the house.

"We'll be going to Shosanbetsu Village next, Botan?" he addresses the biggest man of three, presumably the leader.

Botan rounds on the fourth man. 

"You fool! We haven't stuffed their ears full of cotton!" he points to Satoru.

The man shrinks under Botan's gaze.

"Sorry, sorry," the man hurriedly.

Botan turns to the other men.

"We'll have to kill them," he tells them.

Satoru's eye's widened. His mother screams, though it is stifled by the gag. His father, however, only closes his eyes in defeat.

Before Satoru can even think about his impending death, Botan pulls out his katana, moves across the room at lightning-fast speed, and slices the heads of Satoru's mother and father clean off.

Satoru trembles. Tears began to flood down his cheek. His father, so strong and caring, always wanting to help the people of the village, was dead. His mother, who always looked after him, who always loved him, was dead.

Botan turned toward him, his blood-stained katana shining in the candlelight. He smiled.

It was a horrible smile, a cruel smile, an unloving smile, nothing like the smiles of his mother. More tears flooded down his cheeks.

Botan raised his katana high above his head. Satoru closed his eyes and hung his head.

Then he heard a horrible scream of a man in pain.

He looked up to see Botan clutching his upper arm in pain, an arrow sticking out, his katana on the ground.

The other men looked towards the open door as another arrow flew out of the darkness and hit another man in the leg.

The remaining men ducked right before an arrow whizzed above one's head.

Then a green cloaked figure, wielding a battle-axe, rushed into the house. 

The flat side of his axe hit one man before he could reach for his katana, and the other, katana in hand, rushed to confront the green-cloaked figure before he stopped short, an arrow in his chest.

Another green-cloaked figure, slimmer than the first, came into the room, bow in hand. He spotted Satoru and quickly cut his bonds.

He pushed back his cowl to reveal a slightly youthful face, with a foreign complexion Satoru couldn't quite place.

"Are you all right?" he asked, though he spoke Nihon-Jan, not the common tongue like Satoru was expecting from a foreigner to use.

But Satoru didn't really care. He crawled over to his parent's bodies and cried his eyes out over them.

When he finally stood up, Botan and his men were tied up, except for the man with an arrow in his chest. 

"Hey, kid."

Satoru looked at the axe-wielding man.

"What's your name?"

"Satoru Kobayashi."

"Do you have more family that would take you in?" he asked.

Satoru walked over to the pile of his family's possessions and picked up his great-grandfather's katana. He went to where Botan sat, and ran him through.

"No," he said, replying to the axe-man's question.

He turned to them.

"Who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Maddie was ill. Maddie was violently ill. 

Will had been looking over reports from Baron Arald that night when he heard a horrible retching sound from Maddie's room.

He ran in to see Maddie's legs dangling out her window. She collapsed back onto her bed. Will felt her forehead.

It was burning.

He rode to Castle Redmont, but the healers couldn't identify the illness, but they said the healers at Castle Araluen might be able to identify it. However, they doubted they would diagnose a Ranger's Apprentice.

Will was now riding to Castle Araluen, with Maddie on his lap. Tug was galloping as fast as could while maintaining a good pace, Bumper following behind.

Will saw a rider approaching. The rider saw Will, then focused back on the road ahead, then looked back at Will. He stopped.

"Ranger!" Will reined in, "Are you Ranger Will Treaty?"

"Yes," Will replied.

"Ranger Commandant Gilan has an assignment for you and Ranger Halt," he said.

"Am I needed at Castle Araluen?" Will asked.

"Yes, Ranger."

"Good. I was going there anyway. You'll go and tell Halt, then?"

"Yes, Ranger."

And with that, he rode off along the path. Will followed his lead and rode off toward Castle Araluen.

He eventually saw the towers of Castle Araluen in the sunset and breathed a sigh of relief. Maddie has woken only once on the ride, and she only drank a small amount of water.

Will reached the men standing guard in from of the moat.

"Who goes there?" one asked, obviously the older and more experienced of the two. Will guessed they already knew him a Ranger, with the cloak and longbow. The question was presumably just a formality. 

"King's Ranger, here on the Ranger Commandant's request," he said.

The guard who spoke nodded and signaled to someone standing on the castle wall, and the drawbridge began to lower, and the portcullis began to rise.

He left Tug and Bumper to a stable hand and begun to run through Castle Araluen towards the royal apartments.

He reached them and knocked hurriedly on the door. Princess Regent Cassandra answered. 

"Will? I thought you were meeting with Gilan? Oh!" she saw Maddie, "She's burning up!"

"I know," Will said, "Could you put her in her normal clothes, or does it not matter?"

"Of course it doesn't matter!" Cassandra replied impatiently, "Let's go!"


End file.
